Tennessee group to give away AR-15 semiautomatic rifle

Promoting a cause or 'in-your-face insensitive'?

1:26 PM,
Apr. 26, 2013

This March 27, 2006 file photo, shows a Bushmaster AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and ammunition on display at the Seattle Police headquarters in Seattle. The maker of the Bushmaster rapid-fire weapon used to kill schoolchildren in Connecticut on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, was put up for sale on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Written by

Michael Cass
| The Tennessean

As President Barack Obama tried to pass gun control legislation after a young man with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle killed 20 children in a Connecticut elementary school, a Tennessee group started working to give away the same type of gun.

The Tennessee Firearms Association plans to give away a Bushmaster AR-15 on Monday, subject to a background check for the winner of a drawing that has already pulled in more than 10,000 contestants, executive director John Harris said.

The promotion started on April 8, more than a week before the U.S. Senate voted down a proposal for expanded background ...